Fluid distribution system



M y 1959 G. w. DIEFFENBACHER ET AL 2,885,999

. FLUID DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM Filed May 51, 195'? I23 I24 I25 -NIZ|NGGEARING INVENTORS GEORGE W. DIEFFENBACHER,

OREST A. MEYKAR,

BY {47M www THEIR ATTORNEY.

United States Patent FLUID DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM George W. Dieflfenbacher,Fairfield, N.Y., and Orest Meykar, Greensburg, Pa., assignors to GeneralElectric Company, a corporation of New York Application May 31, 1957,Serial No. 662,694

4 Claims. (Cl. 118602) This invention relates to the art of distributingfluid to an object, and more particularly to the art of distributingprinting fluid in desired quantifies to objects having varyingabsorption characteristics.

In recent years the automatic control and automatic programming ofequipments have received increased emphasis. In order to utilize suchprogrammed equipment under the varying conditions imposed duringproduction runs, equipment flexibility is needed. For example, recentdevelopments in the production of color coded wire have resulted in theintroduction of machinery for the printing of selectable lengths ofcolor coded wire from raw stock as required. This raw stock will bechanged, dependent upon the needs of the production equipment. In orderto imprint wire coming from different stocks it has been found that thediflerent absorption characteristics of the wire required distributionIt is a further object of our invention to provide a printing fluiddistribution system characterized by dripless operation.

It is a further object of our invention to provide an improved methodand means for the distribution of printing fluid.

In accordance with one embodiment of our invention we have provided aplurality of fluid transfer rollers extending between a reservoir offluid and an object. One roller is immersed in the reservoir to pick upprinting fluid. A scraper with an axially centered notch is mounted inperipheral contact with the pickup roller to remove all fluid except athin axially centered band of fluid. The band of fluid is transferred tothe center of the first fluid transfer roller by peripheral contacttherewith. The fluid is then transported to the object through theplurality of transfer rollers which are arranged in sequence havingperipheral contact with the preceding roller. Each roller from the fluidpickup roller to the roller in contact with the object to be imprintedis of progressively smaller axial Width and is axially centered withrespect to the preceding roller. Fluid which is not absorbed by theobject is transferred back to the reservoir along the portions of therollers extending beyond the area of peripheral contact.

The features of our invention which we believe to be novel are set forthwith particularity in the appended claims. Our invention, itself,however, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following description 2,885,999 Patented May 12, 1959 2taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 isa top plan view of one embodiment of our invention and Figure 2 is aside plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1.

The operation of our invention can best be understood by reference toFigures 1 and 2 together. In these figures there is shown an object 101upon which it is desired to imprint a pattern with the printing fluid102 contained in reservoir 103. The object 101 may be, for example, awire drawn from a stock reel 104 to a takeup reel 105. Power to rotatethe takeup roller 105 may be supplied through the synchronizing reel 106from the motor source 107.

In order to pick up printing fluid from the reservoir 103 a pickuproller 108 is partially immersed in the printing fluid 102. Thepickuproller is fixedly mounted on shaft 109 which passes through thereservoir wall and is rotated by the affixed gear 110. The fluid pickedup by the pickup roller 108 is transferred as indicated by arrow 135 tothe first fluid transfer roller 112 through peripheral contacttherewith. In order to transfer the fluid in a band to the center of thetransfer roller 112 and in a predetermined quantity, scraper 113 ismounted in peripheral contact with roller 108. The notch 114 allowsfluid transfer in such quantity as is dictated by the size of the notch.The scraper may be constructed of any convenient material such as sheetmetal or plastic. The notch is of such size as to transfer sufficientfluid to properly imprint the object with the highest absorptioncharacteristic. The scraper is mounted on the reservoir by conventionalmeans such as bracket connections to the sidewalls of the reservoir 103.The fiuid transfer roller 112 is mounted on shaft 115 which rotates injournal 116 as gear 127 is driven. Synchronism of roller 108 with roller112 is maintained by the meshing of gears 110 and 127.

The printing fluid is subsequently transferred to the object by rollers117 and 118 as indicated by arrows 136, 137 and 138 through peripheralcontact with the preceding roller. Rollers 117 and 118 are respectivelymounted on shafts 119 and 120 which are rotated in journals 121 and 122through the operation of gears 123 and 124 respectively. Synchronism ofrotation of the fluid transfer rollers is maintained by the enmeshmentof gear train comprising gears 110, 127, 123 and 124. Power for rotationof this gear train is obtained from gear 125 mounted on shaft 126.Synchronism between the rotation of this gear train and the associatedrollers with the speed of object movement is maintained by derivingrotational power from the synchronizing gearing 106 which provides thepower for object movement.

Since the fluid transferred to object 101 is suflicient to properlyimprint objects with the highest absorption characteristics, manyobjects will not require this quantity of fluid for proper imprinting.Excess fluid is fed back to the reservoir 103. Excess fluid remains onthe periphery of transfer roller 118 and is moved to the line ofperipheral contact of roller 118 with roller 117 as indicated by arrow130. At the line of contact excess fluid will be squeezed out to form afillet 131. Since transfer roller 117 is wider than transfer roller 118,and since the peripheral contact of roller 118 is axially centered onroller 117, roller 117 has an axial portion of its surface available topick up the fluid in the fillets and to transport this fluid to roller112, as indicated by arrows 132. In the same manner excess fluid is thenreturned over path 133 and 134 to the reservoir 103. The scraper 113will insure the return of the excess fluid to the supply.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this fluiddistribution system provides substantially drip-free operation sinceexcess fluid is returned directly to the reservoir. In applicationswhere banks of such distribution systems are necessary the lack ofdripping allows design utilization in smaller space since baffles andprotective guards can be dispensed with.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the relative Widthsof the successive rollers may be varied to suit the particularapplication, taking into account the range of absorption characteristicsof the objects to be processed. When using this fluid distributionsystem for imprinting stock insulated wire, it was found that therelative dimensions given in Table I were satisfactory.

. Table 1 Component: Width (inches) 108 As will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, when imprinting the object with various colors, theviscosity of the fluid will vary greatly, dependent upon the colordesired. It has been found, however, that a notch having a base width of0.040-inch and a 90 degree included angle at the apex transferredsufficient fluid to properly imprint insulated Wire with any color. Itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that imprinting of largerobjects having varying absorption characteristics will require a largernotch for the transfer of a greater quantity of printing fluid. Thenotch should be of such size as to transfer suflicient fluid to properlyimprint the object with the highest absorption characteristic. Excessfluid is returned to the reservoir, eliminating the need for adjustmentof fluid supply for each object.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the fluid pickuproller might be constructed of a single thin grooved pickup roller. Thereturn of the fluid to the reservoir would then be made through theaction of scrapers in peripheral contact with the first transfer roller.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatchanges and modifications may be made Without departing from theinvention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in theappended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications that fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. Apparatus for applying fluid to an object in a desired patterncomprising a pattern printing roller rotatably mounted in peripheralcontact With said object, a fluid containing reservoir, means fortransferring fluid from said reservoir to said pattern roller comprisinga fluid pickup roller rotatably mounted adjacent said reservoir with aportion of the periphery thereof immersed in said fluid,

4 a first fluid transfer roller rotatably mounted in axially centeredperipheral contact with said pickup roller, a second fluid transferroller rotatably mounted between and in peripheral contact with saidfirst transfer roller and said pattern printing roller, each of saidcontacting rollers from said pattern roller to said pickup roller beingof larger axial dimensions than the preceding roller, means for applyingfluid in a predetermined quantity to said object, and means forreturning fluid in excess of that required to imprint said object tosaid reservoir, said fluid applying means and said return meanscomprising a scraper having a notch therein mounted in peripheralcontact with said pickup roller.

2. In combination, fluid reservoir means and means to apply said fluidto an object and to return excess fluid to said reservoir, comprising afluid transfer roller to pick up fluid from said reservoir, scrapermeans having a notch therein in peripheral contact with said pickuproller, and a plurality of rollers, said plurality of rollers comprisinga first roller in peripheral contact with said pickup roller, a lastroller in peripheral contact with said object, and the remainder of saidplurality of rollers positioned between said first and last rollers,each of said rollers from the first to the last being positioned inperipheral contact with the preceding rollers, axially centered withrespect to the preceding roller, and of smaller axial dimension than thpreceding roller.

3. In combination, a fluid containing reservoir, a fluid pickup rollerrotatably mounted adjacent said reservoir with a portion of theperiphery of said roller immersed in said fluid, a first fluid transferroller rotatably mounted in axially centered peripheral contact withsaid fluid pickup roller, said pickup roller having an axial extensionbeyond the area of peripheral contact with said fluid transfer roller onboth sides of said area of contact, scraper means mounted adjacent saidreservoir in fluid removing contact with the peripheral sides of saidfluid pickup roller on both sides of an axially centered band, a secondfluid transfer roller of smaller axial dimension rotatably mounted inaxially centered, peripheral contact with said first transfer roller,and means for simultaneously rotating said pick-up and transfer rollers.

4. Apparatus for the application of printing fluid to objects havingdifferent absorption characteristics comprising a fluid pickup rollerrotatably mounted, a plurality of peripherally abutting rollersrotatably mounted extending between said pickup roller and said object,each roller in said plurality being axially centered with respect to andof smaller axial dimension than the preceding roller, and scraper meansmounted in fluid removing contact with the periphery of said pickuproller on both sides of an axially centered band.

No references cited.

